


Hello, is it me you're looking for?

by 4thofFive



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-04 02:20:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4thofFive/pseuds/4thofFive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve meets Grace for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello, is it me you're looking for?

**Author's Note:**

> I'd always wanted the show to have Steve be a bit more nervous when he met Grace for the first time. Maybe say things he shouldn't. This story assumes they never met before and takes place about a month after the start of Five-0. Grace is seven years old. I had intended the story to be funny but it really isn't.
> 
> Title from the song Hello by Lionel Ritchie.

“Hello,” Steve stuck out his hand and after a brief pause, Grace took it. The sight of her tiny hand in Steve’s large one made a lump form in Danny’s throat and he had to look away for a moment.

After shaking the child’s hand, Steve stood in the doorway staring at Danny as if waiting for instructions. The blonde man rolled his eyes.

“Can we come in? You did invite us over.”

“Oh!” Steve blurted as he scurried backwards to open the door wider. “Yes, yeah of course.”

With a hand on his daughter’s shoulder, Danny entered the McGarrett living room. Steve had only been home for a month so he hadn’t had a chance to make any changes but the house looked like a monument to the 80’s. Steve’s father obviously hadn’t had any interest in home decorating, or else he couldn’t bring himself to make any changes to the house after his wife died.

“Very nice,” said Danny after glancing around.

“Yeah well…it’s home,” Steve shrugged.

The three stood in the living room for a moment until Steve gestured towards the kitchen.

“Did you want to go out on the lanai? We could…watch the waves or something.”

Danny pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.

“Sure that would be nice. Grace is also a world-class sandcastle builder. Do you think she could do that?”

The SEAL looked down at the little girl as if doubting her architectural capabilities.

“Yeah, sure.”

With Steve leading the way the trio trooped through the kitchen onto the lanai. Steve gestured that Danny and Grace should sit and he took the chair opposite them. Steve glanced around as if searching for a topic of conversation. Danny took pity on him.

“So, did you grow up in this house?”

Steve nodded.

“Yes, my parents bought it when Mom was about two months pregnant with me.”

“It’s a nice house isn’t it, Monkey?” Danny repeated, trying to find a way to include his daughter in the conversation.

“Mmmhmm,” she nodded pressing closer to Danny’s arm and staring at Steve’s tattoos.

Steve looked at the father and daughter.

“Did you want something to drink?”

Danny smiled happily.

“Sure that would be great.”

“What would you like?” Steve asked, addressing Grace for the first time.

“Cherry Kool-Aid please,” she responded prompting a worried look from Steve.

Danny intervened again. He had a feeling he’d be doing a lot of that during this visit.

“Monkey, Commander McGarrett doesn’t have a lot of children visiting so I don’t think he has Kool-Aid.”

Grace raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had just assumed everyone had Kool-Aid.

“Lemonade?’ She offered tentatively.

“Coffee, tea or water,” Steve replied not unkindly. “Or…a protein drink.”

“Water, please,” Grace smiled weakly.

“Me too,” Danny agreed.

When Steve got up to re-enter the house, Grace stood up from her chair.

“Can I go down to the beach Danno?”

Danny looked down at the shoreline. There didn’t appear to be any sign of sharks or a tsunami.

“Yes, but stay on the sand and out of the water ok?”

Grace nodded and turned to skip down the lanai stairs and run to the beach. Danny watched her with a smile on his face. He might hate this pineapple infested, sand encrusted rock, but she loved it and if she was happy, he could be happy. 

Danny looked up as Steve came back outside holding three glasses in his hands. Danny took one from him and the SEAL held Grace’s glass up in confusion.

“Do I take this to her or what?”

“She’ll come and drink it if she gets thirsty, babe,” Danny replied taking his daughter’s glass and putting it on the arm of her chair. 

Steve sat down with a heavy sigh and glanced out to the beach where Grace was happily piling up sand with her hands.

“She’s very polite,” Steve said approvingly.

Danny smiled proudly as he turned his gaze on his daughter.

“Thank you. Yes, her mother and I taught her to have good manners.”

The two men sat quietly for some time. The situation was strangely awkward. They hadn’t known each other very long but they always managed to have conversations in the car. Steve was obviously nervous, something Danny never expected from the taller man.

“What does she like to do?” Steve asked out of the blue.

Danny shifted in his chair and gestured weakly with one hand.

“Oh, a lot of the usual girly stuff: paint her nails, do hair. But she also plays soccer and she loves to draw. In a couple of weeks she starts fencing lessons.”

Steve’s eyes widened at that.

“Fencing? Really?”

Danny shrugged as he took a drink from his glass of water then put it back down on the arm of the chair.

“I have no idea where her interest in that came from, but she’s been bugging us to try it.”

Steve glanced back at the child with a new look of respect in his eyes.

“That’s pretty cool.”

As Danny watched Grace kept trying to mound up sand but wasn’t getting very far using just her hands.

“Hey do you have a bucket and spade?”

Steve looked over at him, eyebrows knit together.

“Huh?”

“For sandcastle building. She could do a better sandcastle if she had the right tools.”

“Oh, sure!” Steve replied jumping to his feet as if grateful for something to do. “I think I saw them in the garage. I’ll go get them.”

As Steve turned and re-entered the house Danny sank weakly against the back of his chair. He really wanted Grace and Steve to meet each other and maybe become friends, but god this was painful. It was obvious Steve didn’t do a lot of entertaining – or at least the kind of entertaining that didn’t call for a beer keg.

Steve burst back through the lanai door brandishing a pink plastic bucket and spade is if it were a long-lost treasure.

“Here we are,” he announced proudly.

Danny nodded in reassurance.

“Yes. That’s great. Why don’t you take them down to her?”

Steve’s face dropped and he glanced over at Grace as if she were a Taliban soldier. Actually Danny thought he’d be less afraid if she were a Taliban soldier.

“Me?”

“Good chance for you to get to know each other a bit. Maybe you can help her build her sandcastle. Don’t you have an engineering degree from Annapolis?”

“Chemistry,” Steve replied still staring at Danny’s daughter.

“Oh well. You grew up here. I’m sure you’ve built thousands of sand castles.”

Steve swallowed thickly then nodded. He left the lanai with a determined expression on his face and Danny had to bite back a laugh.

Steve marched up to Grace and hovered several feet away from her before holding the bucket and spade out in front of him.

“I found these if you’d like to use them,” the SEAL offered gently. 

Grace looked up at him and smiled.

“Thank you.” She put out her hands and Steve gave her the implements.

The SEAL stood watching her for a moment before she looked over her shoulder at him warily.

“Ummm…is it ok that I’m doing this?”

Steve nodded.

“Yes, of course. That’s why I invited you and your dad over. I thought you’d like the beach.”

“Ok,” the little girl replied quietly. “You were watching me so I thought I was doing something wrong.”

Steve grimaced and lowered himself to his knees. He had to get out of the habit of looming over people.

“Sorry I just…well I was wondering if you wanted help with your sandcastle?”

Grace looked up at him again and smiled shyly.

“Sure, if you want to.”

Steve smiled back and took up the bucket then walked to the water’s edge to get wetter sand. He came back with it then dropped down on his knees again.

“Where would you like this?” he asked politely.

“Right there,” Grace ordered pointing to a spot next to the turret she had already constructed. “The princess is going to have two towers in her castle.”

A small smile flickered across Steve’s face as he upended the bucket of wet sand.

“That sounds nice.”

The two work quietly for a moment before Grace glanced up at him and away.

“Do you still build sandcastles?” she asked.

“Not so much anymore,” Steve replied as he used a stick to make windows in the second tower. “I’ve been kind of busy since I got back to Hawaii and I haven’t had time.”

Grace nodded knowingly.

“Danno is busy too, but he still builds sandcastles with me. You should too. It’s fun.”

“Well I’ll…If I get time maybe I will.”

Another few minutes went by before Grace spoke again.

“I like your tattoos.”

Steve looked over at the child and smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Danno has a little tattoo on his hand.”

“I’ve seen it, it’s very nice.”

“I like yours because they have lots of colour. I told Danno he should get one with lots of colour but he said he didn’t really think it would look good on him.”

“Not everybody likes them but I do.”

Grace used her hands to smooth the sides of the sandcastle.

“Danno says you’ve been a soldier in lots of different countries.”

“That’s classified,” Steve snapped with more force than he intended.

Grace pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stared up at him with her big brown eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

Steve sat back on his feet and sighed softly.

“No, I’m sorry Grace. I didn’t mean to snap I just…I can’t really talk about this stuff but yes, your dad is right. I’ve been to lots of countries.”

“OK,” the child replied softly. Steve felt like all kinds of an asshole.

“So umm…Danny says you’re going to take up fencing?”

Grace nodded quickly but her eyes stayed glued to the sandcastle.

“Yes. I saw it on a movie and I wanted to try it. Danno didn’t like the idea at first, but then he checked it out and found out you wear padding and use a dull sword so I can’t get hurt.”

“Epeé,” Steve replied.

Grace looked up at him in confusion.

“Pardon me?”

“The sword they use in fencing is called an Épeé.”

“Oh,” Grace formed her mouth around the word. “Épeé. I like that. It’s a pretty word.”

“It means sword in French,” Steve instructed.

Grace smiled brightly at him and he felt his heart melt just a bit.

“Danno says you know a lot of stuff. Mostly stuff about how to blow things up but he said you’re really smart.”

Steve raised his eyebrows and glanced over to Danny who was sprawled out on his lawn chair, his eyes closed.

“He did?”

“Mmmhmm. Danno says you’re real smart but you’re kind of crazy too.”

Steve pulled his lips between his teeth and dropped his head to concentrate on his part of the sandcastle. For some reason he couldn’t quite fathom, it was important to him that his partner like him. It seems he did.

“Well, Danno’s smart too,” Steve offered as he began digging a moat for the castle. “He’s a very good detective.”

Grace nodded seriously.

“Yes, I know. He’s the best ever. He has some plaques and letters from the Mayor of Newark and stuff.”

“Do you think you’ll join the police when you grow up?” Steve inquired beginning to marvel at how easy it was to talk to this child.

Grace shrugged.

“Danno says over his dead body, but I think maybe I will. I’d also like to be a school teacher and an astronaut too.”

“Are you good in science and math?” the SEAL inquired.

Grace made a face. “I’m ok in them. I’m better in science.”

“Well, you have to be really good in science and math to be an astronaut.”

Grace looked up at him in confusion.

“Danno says I can do anything if I put my mind to it.”

Steve nodded slowly.

“That’s a nice sentiment, but not everyone can be everything they want.”

“Oh,” she replied with a disappointed little sigh.

“But I’m sure that you’ll find something you really love doing,” Steve offered hurriedly. “That’s the important thing. To find a career you really love doing.”

“Do you love being a policeman?” Grace asked.

Steve stopped his sandcastle building for a moment and considered the question.

“Umm, I’m not really sure. I’m so new to it. There’s a lot of things I don’t know – the rules that I have to follow. Danno gets kind of mad when I don’t follow them properly.”

Grace sat back on her butt and looked up at Steve seriously.

“Danno likes to yell a lot, but that’s cause he worries about people and stuff. He says he thinks you’ll be a good policeman if you stop trying to blow everything up.”

Steve had to press his lips together again to keep from laughing out loud. He had to clear his throat before he could respond.

“Well, that’s good to know.”

“Hey you two,” Danny wandered up to the sandcastle builders and plopped down in the sand. “Very nice sandcastle.”

Grace grinned but Steve tipped his head in acknowledgement of the comment.

“Thanks. I guess it’s a skill you never lose.”

Danny rubbed the flat of his hand over his belly meaningfully.

“I don’t know about you two but I’m starving.”

“Me too!” chirped Grace. “Can we have hot dogs?”

Steve grimaced.

“Hot dogs are not good for you – full of sulphites – how about I make a salad? I can put in lots of nuts and berries.”

Grace gave a sickly smile, but Danny huffed in indignation.

“Or how about I take everyone out for burgers and fries?” the smaller man offered.

Now it was Steve’s turn to make a sickly face but Grace leapt to her feet and cheered. When she turned to look at Steve and saw his expression, her face dropped.

“We don’t have to if Commander McGarrett doesn’t want to.”

From where he was sitting just behind his daughter, Danny glared at Steve.

“I’m sure Commander McGarrett loves burgers, don’t you Commander?”

Steve’s shoulders dropped in defeat but he smiled up at the child and nodded.

“Very much.”

**********

Supper had been a bit easier although Danny had to still carry most of the conversation. He’d prompted Grace to tell Steve a bit about her school and some of the projects she was working on and he was gratified that Steve had listened to her intently and added a few comments of his own. But when Steve got up from the table to go to the washroom there was a definite lightening of the atmosphere. Danny was beginning to wonder if he’d done the right thing in introducing the two. 

“Danno?” Grace spoke softly from beside him.

The blonde man snapped out of his reverie and looked down at his daughter.

“Yes, Monkey?”

“Is…does Commander McGarrett like children?”

Danny took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before wrapping one arm around his daughter’s shoulders.

“I think he probably does Monkey, it’s just that he hasn’t been around kids very much and doesn’t know how to talk to them. Also, remember what I told you that his mom died when he was very young and his dad just died a month ago. He’s kind of sad.”

Grace nodded firmly.

“OK. Danno. He was nice to me on the beach he’s just…I don’t really know what to talk to him about.”

Danny lifted his hand off her shoulder and caressed her hair.

“Don’t worry about that, Monkey. Let’s just see if we can get him to relax around us. If we do that maybe he’ll be easier to talk to, ok?”

Grace opened her mouth to respond when Steve returned and slid into the booth opposite them. The little girl returned her attention to the milkshake in front of her.

“Well I need to use the bathroom too,” Danny announced looking down at a now-worried looking Grace. “Can you stay here for a moment Monkey, or would you rather stand outside the bathroom and wait for me?”

Grace looked like she was going to insist on accompanying her father but, seeing the confused look that appeared on Steve’s face, she shook her head firmly.

“No, it’s ok Danno. I’ll wait here.” 

Danny leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before sliding out of his side of the booth and walking away.

Grace and Steve sat quietly for a moment, both feeling uncomfortable and nervous.

Steve cleared his throat loudly.

“Is umm…is your milkshake ok?”

Grace gave him a glimmer of a smile.

“Yes, it tastes good. Would you like to try some?”

Steve shook his head firmly.

“No. No thanks. I try not to eat or drink too much sugar. It’s bad for you. I’m surprised your parents let you have that kind of stuff.”

Grace pressed her lips together in an angry little frown.

“I don’t eat too much sugar. Mommy and Danno don’t let me. They make sure I eat good things.”

“That’s good,” Steve replied as he took a sip from his water glass, oblivious to the offended look on the child’s face. “Your dad sometimes eats a lot of crap, er, not healthy things. He’s going to have a heart attack someday.”

Grace stared up at the tall man in horror, her eyes filling with tears.

“D-Danno’s not going to have a heart attack,” she whispered tremulously. “He takes care of himself. He’s not going to die. Danno’s not going to die.”

Steve looked over in horror at the obviously upset child. He felt like kicking himself. The SEAL cast his mind about for something to say when Danny slid back into the booth. The detective was about to tell a funny story about a family he’d just seen in the corner of the restaurant when Grace threw herself against him and buried her face into his shirt.

“You’re not going to die are you, Danno? Tell that man you’re not going to die!” she sobbed.

Danny automatically wrapped his arms around his baby girl and glared at Steve with a mixture of shock and rage.

“What? What the hell did you say to her, McGarrett?”

Steve opened and closed his mouth uselessly for a moment then shrugged helplessly.

“I-I didn’t mean to…I was just telling her you needed to eat better.”

“He said you were going to die of a heart attack,” the little girl gave a muffled sob.

Danny glared at Steve as he pulled Grace into his arms and slid off the bench to stand up, his daughter’s arms and legs wrapped tightly around him.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Danny hissed, trying not to attract the attention of everyone in the restaurant. “You talk to the daughter of a man in a dangerous line of work – a little girl who just suffered through her parent’s divorce and a forced move away from her home – about her father dying? Are you insane?”

“Danny I…” Steve tried to respond but Danny turned away from his partner.

“Thank you for the lovely day,” the detective sneered angrily. “You can pay the bill and by the way, go to hell.”

Danny stormed out of the restaurant, Grace still attached to him like a barnacle. Steve hurriedly dug his wallet out of his pocket and threw some cash on the table before sliding out of the booth himself and jogging out of the restaurant.

“Danny!” he called out as his partner opened the back door of the Camaro and tucked his daughter gently into the back seat. “Danny wait! Please!”

The detective stood up straight and glared over at Steve who was running towards him. The taller man slid to a stop next to him and put up both hands pleadingly.

“Danny I’m sorry. Please…let me talk to her ok?”

“Forget it, Steven. I’m not allowing you to upset my baby again.”

Steve shook his head firmly and placed one warm hand on his partner’s shoulder.

“I won’t, I promise just…please let me try to make it up to her.”

Danny paused for a moment. He had the overwhelming urge to tell Steve to fuck off, but the SEAL was obviously upset and wanted to make amends. He gave one quick nod of his head and stepped back to let Steve kneel down by the still open back door of the car so that he was eye-level with a red-eyed Grace. The SEAL licked his lips nervously then cleared his throat. He looked up and met the little girl’s eyes unflinchingly.

“Grace, I’m very sorry for what I said. It was dumb of me. Your dad is not going to die of a heart attack and he does take good care of himself.”

Grace pulled her trembling bottom lip between her teeth but did not respond.

“Grace…I’m sure your dad has told you that I don’t have a lot of experience with children, so I’m not really good about talking to you but, I really like you and your dad. I’d like to be friends with both of you.” 

Steve dropped his eyes to the car seat and blew out a heavy breath.

“The truth is, I don’t have a lot of friends, especially on this island, and it’s kind of lonely.” He looked up at the child again. “Your dad talks about how wonderful you are all the time and I really wanted to meet you and become friends with you, but I didn’t know how to do that or what to say. I don’t…I’m not as good with words as your Danno, but I really will try and I’m hoping you can forgive me and maybe we can be friends.”

Grace looked over his shoulder up at her father for a moment before returning her gaze to Steve.

“Can I come and play on your beach again?”

Steve grinned happily, the first real, relaxed smile Danny had ever seen on the taller man.

“Yes you can, anytime you want. I’ll get some better tools for making sandcastles, and I’ll even buy some wieners to barbeque, ok?”

A small, tentative smile quirked across Grace’s face and she nodded.

“OK.”

Steve was surprised to feel a lump form in his throat and he swallow heavily before he could speak again.

“OK. Thank you, Grace.”

Steve climbed to his feet and gave a relieved glance over to a now-smiling Danny.

“Nice work Super SEAL,” the smaller man whispered. “I guess you’re not completely hopeless.”

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

“Thanks, Danno.”

Danny rolled his eyes but decided to save the lecture about not using that nickname for another time when Grace wasn’t around and he could say exactly what he felt. He looked down at his daughter.

“Monkey want to say goodnight to Commander McGarrett and thank him for letting us spend time on his beach?”

Grace smiled up at Steve.

“Thank you, Commander McGarrett. I had fun today.”

Steve knelt down again.

“If it’s ok with your dad I hope you’ll call me Steve. Friends call each other by their first names.”

Grace looked at him for a moment as if considering her next action. Then she unhooked her seat belt and crawled over to Steve and leaned part way out of the car to wrap her arms around his neck and give him a hug.

“Thank you for the nice day, Uncle Steve.”

Steve froze for a moment shocked by the easy affection from the little girl. The truth was that besides sex, Steve had very little physical contact with anyone – certainly very few random hugs. In an instant the SEAL felt something brittle and cold break within his body and he wrapped his arms around the little girl and hugged her tightly. Finally the two pulled apart and Steve stood up, his eyes cast firmly to the ground in case Danny could see they were brimming with tears.

Danny had watched the small moment with a mixture of relief and tenderness. When Steve let go of Grace and climbed to his feet Danny knew the taller man was fighting with his emotions. He also knew Steve wasn’t ready to show anyone his vulnerable side just yet. The detective reached over and gave Steve’s upper arm a squeeze before turning and opening the driver’s door and climbing into the seat. He glanced up at his partner who was swallowing convulsively.

“Thanks for today, Steve,” Danny spoke quietly. “See you on Monday.”

 

The end.


End file.
